Thread by @sarahsalviander

If you think you have devastating arguments against God, that's fine, but keep in mind:

1. You don't.
2. Seriously, you don't.

Lack of religious education, and of education in general, has made rhetorically snappy but vapid arguments seem powerful.

I'm not singling atheists out here. Christians often fall for this stuff, because many don't understand Christianity, science, math, or philosophy any better than those making the vapid arguments.

Whatever your beliefs, you're not helping yourself by not knowing these things.

Whether you're Christian or atheist, treat yourself to a classical education. Learn the essentials of Christian belief, read the church fathers, study the great philosophers, learn the basics of modern science, become literate in math, and read great works of literature.

The end result will be...

Christians: you're far less likely to fall for arguments that range between snappy-but-vapid and utterly stupid.

Atheists: you won't sound like five year-olds.

I don't mean to be insulting with this, but if you've ever spent time in a Sunday school...

...you will hear every objection that y'all throw at us. Because these are OBVIOUS objections, which is fine; but you need to know that they're not clever or original. Literally the moment children start learning basic theology, they know to raise these objections.

And I've seen how quickly these children realize the flaws in their thinking once the resolution is explained to them.

So, again, classical education. I should probably put together a curriculum/reading list for the essentials. Feel free to suggest stuff below.